Due North
by AndreeaRaducan
Summary: AU. "Sequel to Compass" - Raising four teenagers under one roof becomes a thrill ride that Jennifer Jareau-Reid and Spencer Reid never thought they would come to face.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok. Please read this so that you can understand what I'm doing.**

**I changed my mind about the order of stories. Because I have so much inspiration for 'Due North', previously the THIRD instalment of Compass, and so little for 'Adjusting The Needle', I have swapped those two around. You now skip ahead nearly eleven years. I know it seems like I'm lazy, rushing things, or desperate to do this particular story, but bear with me. I've got a really good idea to work this through the story.**

**The 'Adjusting The Needle' instalment, which was always going to be shorter, will feature a series of prominent and important flashbacks from the childhood years of the Jareau-Reid family.**

**I hope you like the idea, and enjoy the first chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CM.**

* * *

_Thwack!_

_Thump!_

"What on earth...?" Spencer asked himself, giving up on attempting reading his book. Pulling himself up off the couch, he stepped out onto the landing, quickly glancing towards Kirby's room, where he could see JJ and Kirby laughing about something as they gave the room a thorough cleanout.

Quickly descending the stairs, Spencer stepped into the kitchen area, and took a right down the hallway. He stopped in Olivia's doorway, leaning against the frame with an amused smile as he watched Olivia thrash the living daylights out of a pair of pointe shoes.

"What _are_ you doing?" he half laughed. Olivia didn't break her rhythm of hitting the shoes with a thick textbook as she responded.

"Breaking in my shoes. I have a big audition coming up, and I need the perfect pair of pointe shoes," she replied, heaving a sigh as she let the book fall back to the top of her desk. Picking up the new satiny shoes, she bent them in half as much as she could, before crossing the room to her wardrobe, her long, straight blonde hair sashaying behind her.

Ever since JJ and Spencer had enrolled her in dance classes when she was little, Olivia had shown a strong love for the sport. Her dancing had gotten serious when she was just eight years old, and while they didn't mind as long as Olivia was pursuing something she loved, JJ and Spencer spent a lot of time at competitions and performances, and spent a lot of money on dance clothes, costumes, and shoes.

Especially the pointe shoes.

"Ok...," Olivia said softly, grabbing a box from the top of her wardrobe and emptying the contents out across the carpet. Spencer watched with wide eyes as dozens of pairs of pointe shoes spilled out onto the floor. Some looked newer, while others looked thoroughly used. He knew he and JJ had forked out a fair amount of money for pointe shoes in particular, but he wasn't aware just how many pairs Olivia had needed.

"Are these all the shoes you've ever owned?" he asked. Olivia shook her head.

"Just the last two years worth. They all still fit me, my feet haven't grown," she replied, looking up at her father.

Spencer grinned. "I'll leave you to it, then"

Olivia watched as her dad walked away. Walking back over to her desk, she took the new shoes into her hand, running the tips of her fingers over the shiny satin. Looking up for a moment, she reached up with her free hand, placing her fingers against the dozens of photos of various dancers that she had stuck on the wall above her desk.

Anna Pavlova, Marie Camargo, Michelle Yeoh, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Olivia knew that dance was her life. She had even opted for low priority classes in her subject selection at school, so that her schedule could revolve more closely around her dance training.

She wanted to be a principle dancer. Nothing made her feel more alive than when she was lost in the music.

To get there was a long, hard road. But she was prepared to do it, and her family was prepared to support her.

Grabbing a cup of various coloured permanent markers, she went back to the pile of shoes, dropping the new ones in amongst her lightly and thoroughly used pairs. Pointing her bare foot out in front of her, she slid into a perfect split, before leaning forward onto her elbows and beginning to bend and press the shoes to try and decide on a pair.

* * *

"Die! Die! Die, you pig!" Saoirde yelled excitedly as he and Nathaniel faced off in _Call of Duty_.

"Hey. Watch your language, young man," JJ scolded lightly as she entered the theatre room. Stopping behind the boys, she watched the screen with an amused expression. "Why do your father and I buy these games for you?"

"Because you're awesome," Nathaniel laughed, tipping his head back and looking up at his mother.

"Thanks for the flattery, bud, but you're not getting any more games until Christmas...ten years from now," JJ laughed in reply, ruffling Nathaniel's dark brown hair.

"Seriously?" he whined, making her grin and nod. Turning to the leave the room, she rolled her eyes as Saoirde hurled more insults at the computerized players on the screen.

"Rade. Chill out, little bro. They're just computers," Nathaniel teased.

"But they're killing me!" Saoirde exclaimed, firing a machine gun until the round was empty.

"Easy on the ammo, we still have four levels left!" Nathaniel yelled, jumping out of his beanbag.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Saoirde cried out, firing his weapon in every direction. Despite the fact that they were going to lose their game, Nathaniel couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Olivia smiled as she finally found a pair of shoes that were lightly worn, softened around the toe box, and comfortable to wear and dance in.

The tips of her fingers danced over the lids of the permanent markers. After discovering that buying coloured pointe shoes could often be more expensive, for god knows what reason, Olivia had bought a packet of permanent markers, and whenever she needed coloured shoes, would repair and shine up an old pink pair, before carefully colouring them in.

Choosing a sort of Caribbean blue colour, she popped the cap off and set to work colouring in the satin material of the shoes.

* * *

"Sure, I'll ask my mom," Kirby said excitedly into her phone as she leapt off her bed and walked out onto the landing, where her mother was exiting the theatre room. "Mom, can I go ice skating with Corey and some friends from school?"

JJ smiled, leaning on the railing. "Who's Corey?"

"Can I go?" Kirby asked, avoiding the question.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Saoirde's voice rang out from the theatre room, making them both roll their eyes. JJ turned to Kirby, asking the question that Saoirde had cut off.

"Who else is going?"

"Samantha, Alex, Bianca, Jesse, Alana, Noah, and a couple others," Kirby rattled off. JJ nodded to say '_Yes you can go_', recognising a few of the names.

"Yeah, I can come...Friday night, 7:30?...yeah...ok, I'll see you then...bye," Kirby said into the phone, hanging it up and attempting to get to her room before JJ could ask questions.

"Wait up missy, you never answered my question," JJ teased, following Kirby into the bedroom. "Who's Corey?"

"Just a guy from school," Kirby shrugged.

"Do you like him?" JJ prodded, grinning.

"Moooom," Kirby whined, making JJ laugh.

"I'm just teasing, Kirb," she replied. Kirby grinned.

"I know. What time does Livy's class finish on Friday?" she asked. JJ thought for a moment, tucking her hair out of her eyes.

"Uh...8, I'm pretty sure. So I'll drop you off, and then go get Livy. And I might send Livy back to pick you up. Depends on how lazy I'm feeling," she admitted. Kirby laughed, shaking her head as they left the bedroom and walked downstairs.

* * *

"Ok. I've got the perfect shoes for the audition," Olivia announced, dropping the pair of shoes on the table. JJ looked over her shoulder to discover that they were now bright blue.

"Nice. Are you all set? Practised your routine?" JJ asked, leaning on the table. Olivia nodded, smiling.

"I'm more than ready," she affirmed, practically running across the room and hugging her mother tightly. JJ smiled, running her fingers through Olivia's hair.

She couldn't be more proud of her daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Follow me on Twitter at godofbacon and Tumblr at Jareau215!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CM.**

* * *

Kirby glided easily across the surface of the ice rink, weaving seamlessly between the other skaters. Looking up, she noticed Corey waving to her from the corner of the rink. Skating over to him, she skidded to a stop beside him, laughing when ice sprayed on the hem of his jeans.

"Hey! What was that for?" Corey laughed, attempting to shake some of the ice off.

"Felt like it," Kirby shrugged. Corey grinned, grabbing her hand and beckoning for her to come with him. Together, they skated towards a rink exit, and stepped into the empty corridor that ran alongside the rink towards the cafe. Corey pulled Kirby to sit beside him on one of the benches that sat along the wall, holding on of her freezing cold hands in his.

"I'm going to tell you something...don't freak out," he said softly. Kirby nodded slightly, detecting anxiety in his voice.

"Go on," she said quietly. Corey took a breath, laughing nervously as he shivered slightly in the cool air.

"I...I really like you, Kirby," he admitted, looking straight into Kirby's dark brown eyes. Kirby blushed, a little smile spreading across her face.

"I like you too," she replied, her voice just above a whisper. Corey smiled, taking her other hand in his.

"Well...would you like to go out with me?" he asked gently. Kirby bit her lip, nodding as a smile broke onto her face. She shivered in the cold, prompting Corey to put his arm around her as they stood up.

"Let's go the cafe and get something to eat, yeah? It's warmer in there," he suggested. Kirby nodded, liking the feel of his arm around her shoulders as they carefully slipped their skates off and walked to the cafe.

* * *

Once a week, on Friday nights, Olivia was scheduled for a 45 minute private session with her ballet teacher. She preferred these to her normal classes, as she got a lot more feedback and advice.

"Hold your turn out...lower your leg with control...very good," Miss Tyler praised as Olivia completed the exercise. "Nicely done. Your arabesque has improved. I can see you've been practising. Now we're going to work on your développé to second"

Olivia nodded, moving to the barre and lightly placing her hand on top. Starting in first position, she lifted her right leg to a retire pose, before lifting her knee and unfolding her leg into the air.

"Ok, hold it right there. Turn it out a little more...good," Miss Tyler said, gently turning Olivia's foot slightly to the correct position. "Rotate your hip to get more height...and lower it with control, keeping your foot pointed"

As Olivia was putting her shoes back in her bag, Miss Tyler approached her. "Olivia, the performance that we're putting on in two months, there's going to be talent scouts there"

Olivia stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Scouts for what?"

"Various dance schools all over the country, even a few from around the world, Germany, England, places like that," Miss Tyler replied. Olivia's eyes lit up. "Some of them have seen some of your previous performances. Every six months, we send tapes of all our students to many different dance schools. More than one of the schools have already expressed interest in you"

"Really?" Olivia asked, dumbfounded. Miss Tyler smiled, nodding.

"If you do as well in the performance as you've been doing lately, you may have a very good chance of being offered a position in a dance academy. You have exceptional talent and drive, Olivia. You're the type of student every teacher wants," she praised. Olivia smiled.

"Thank you, Miss," she replied. "I'll do my best"

"I know you will," Miss Tyler smiled, watching as Olivia turned and left the studio.

* * *

Kirby practically skipped through the door ahead of Olivia, who had picked her up from ice skating, and ran up the stairs to find her mom. Running to the master bedroom, she stopped in the doorway.

"Hey. How was ice skating?" JJ asked as she came out of the bathroom with wet tangled hair.

Kirby opened her mouth to speak, but then frowned, pointing to the bathroom. "Was Dad in there with you?"

"Do you need to know?" JJ laughed. Kirby looked like she was going to say yes, but then closed her mouth and shook her head.

"Never mind, I'll preserve my innocence for as long as humanely possible," she sighed. JJ laughed as she sat down on the end of the bed. "I came up here to tell you something really exciting"

"And what would that be?" JJ asked, watching Kirby as she sat down beside her.

"Corey asked me out," Kirby said shyly, a smile spreading across her face. JJ's eyes lit up as she smiled.

"Really? What did you say?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes," Kirby giggled. JJ smiled, putting her arm around her youngest daughter.

"My little girl's growing up," she teased.

"Moooom," Kirby whined, making JJ laugh as they stood up and exited the room.

* * *

JJ sifted through the cupboard in Olivia's bathroom, looking for the strong painkillers that Olivia used for dance injuries. Shoving aside two packets of paracetamol, she reached into the back of the cupboard, her hand closing around a box that felt like the painkillers she was after. Pulling it out of the cupboard, the only thought that immediately ran through her mind was that the painkillers could wait.

Walking back into the bedroom, JJ sat on the edge of Olivia's bed. She could hear Olivia and her boyfriend, Zac, in the entry hall. They'd been together for nearly eighteen months, and so far, JJ and Spencer really liked him. He was polite, smart, handsome, and nothing but sweet to Olivia.

"I had fun tonight," Olivia said, stretching up and wrapping her arms around his neck as she pecked his lips. Zac placed his hands on her waist, gently kissing her back.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said quietly. Olivia nodded, letting go and waving as he left. She blew him a kiss from the front door, before closing the door and walking towards her bedroom. Looking up as she entered the room, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed her mother sitting on her bed.

With a box of condoms in her hand.

"Oh...," Olivia said softly, biting her lip. Reaching behind her, she closed the door. JJ raised her eyebrows, turning the box over in her hands.

"I'm not sure if I should be glad that they're not opened, or concerned that there's obviously a reason as to why you have them," she said quietly. Olivia took a deep breath, dropping her bag onto her desk.

"I swear I haven't done anything. They're...just in case," she said sincerely. "Don't be mad"

"Olivia, I'm not mad, I just wish you could've asked me about something like this," JJ sighed.

"I'm old enough to make decisions like this myself, Mom. It's just sex-"

JJ reached out, grabbing Olivia's hands. "Liv, it's not _just sex_. It's the most intimate thing two people can do...and after what happened to you when you were little, I don't want you to just give yourself over to anyone," she said gently. Olivia nodded, biting her lip.

"I know...that wasn't meant to sound that way," she replied softly. "Just because I have them, it doesn't mean I'm doing anything. I just wanted to be prepared in case anything happened, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet," she explained. JJ looked at her in silence for a moment, before taking a breath and nodding.

"Alright...I know I can't stop you from doing anything...but I don't want you to get hurt. You've had enough of that to last you a lifetime," she admitted softly. Olivia nodded.

"I know. I'll be careful," she promised. JJ smiled, pulling her eldest into a tight hug.

How she wished that her kids could've stayed little forever.


End file.
